Cosmetic Dermatologist

Its festival time of year and the cooler members of my client-base have recently been asking for some easy skin care cheats which will ensure that their Instagram pics don’t shame them for years to come. Naturally, the easiest way to look great in adverse circumstances (dermatologically speaking) is to have the best skin possible naturally, rendering products de trop. Alas, for most mortals this is not feasible. So here is my guide to getting by in the great outdoors.

1) Get thee a big bottle of Micellar Lotion and a wad of cotton pads.

These are the smart girl’s wipe. No rinsing required and no nasty pore-clogging residue left in its wake. I adore Bioderma Sensibio Micelle Solution. Thankfully now widely available at Lloyds chemists.

2) Moisturising sunscreen – now, I’m usually a separatist, when it comes to skin care. I’m a firm believer that there is only so much ‘space’ in a product for active ingredients so trying to cram 8 different functions into one usually means that none of them are done very well…..but you CAN moisturise whilst sun-protecting….. And it would be madly unfortunate to get sunburnt during a freak spell of UV on day 1. I’m fond of La Roche Posay Melt-in Cream for this purpose,as it offers a bit more hydration than the other Anthelios products, along with the stellar UVA/B protections. BUT it’s also tinted – so it’s practically a BB cream ( and far more effective at doing the things it’s designed to than most of those will ever be). Genius.

3) Spot cream. Yes, this might seem like a luxury, in priority terms – but ultimately if clear skin is the key to the minimalist festival skin approach, then its imperative to have some sort of zit zapper to hand for when the late nights lead to that throbbing sensation of doom on your chin and you spy Vesuvius erupting in your tiny compact mirror. So nuke it with either benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. I like Murad Acne Spot Treatment and Obagi Therapeutic Lotion.

5) Eye-liner. Ok, so not strictly a skin care trick (you caught me out) but actually, you can get by on the above 4 things, just about but ‘4 skincare tricks….’ doesn’t make for such a catchy title. Eyeliner is the one make-up item that transforms a look. Think Carine Roitfeld, who apparently can apply her signature black eyeliner without a mirror. Quite a nifty talent for a festival, I’d have thought….although somehow I don’t see her camping. I’ve discovered the amazing Kevyn Aucoin’s ‘The Eyeliner Primatif’. Uber-premium but glides on like a dream with no pesky drag and has a wonderful smudging gismo on the end.

So there you have it. Your skin care 101 to surviving a festival. Go forth and party (relatively) bare-faced and enjoy with my blessing.